Kerala - Kochi   

World heritage list: experts to visit 14 sites

Kochi: The independent evaluators of the International Union for Conservation of Nature will visit 14 sites in the Western Ghats region for assessing it for world heritage sites of UNESCO.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has included 39 serial sites in the Western Ghats region spread over six States in its nomination for the world heritage list. The evaluators — Wendy Strahm from the U.K., and Brian Furze from Australia — will reach New Delhi on October 10 and will meet the officials of the Ministry on October 11.

Ms. Wendi, former head of the IUCN Plant Specialist group, and Mr. Furze, a specialist in community participation in conservation, will interact with the officials of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and park managers of the State at Coimbatore on October 12. Mr. Furze had earlier served in India and Nepal. Experts from research institutions like the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, are also expected to meet the visiting team. The team will reach Munnar on October 13 and Thekkady the next day. They will stay at Thekkady for the day before proceeding to the Periyar region on October 15. From there, they will leave for the Mundunthurai region of Tamil Nadu and reach Thiruvananthapuram on October 16. After completing the tour, the team will return to New Delhi for a two-day de-briefing session on October 22, according to Ministry officials.

India had been campaigning for including the Western Ghats, which extends over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, in the list since 2006. Most of the serial sites are either national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves or reserved forests.

The Western Ghats is seeking the nomination under the category of “sites that contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance and those which contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.”

According to V.B. Mathur, dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, all the CCFs concerned have been briefed about the visit. Copies of the dossier on the Ghats submitted to the committee were also sent to them. A decision on inclusion, based on the report of the expert team, will be taken at the Bahrain meeting of the World Heritage Committee to be held in July 2011, Dr. Mathur said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Neptune exercise proves need to set up quick reaction base
Four killed in accidents
Six arrested on charges of cheating
Bio-gas plants to be inspected
Childline rescues four children
BSNL open house
Meeting postponed
District mediation centre opens
Soofiya allowed to meet Maudany
Chekannur case verdict on September 29
World heritage list: experts to visit 14 sites
In Kochi Today

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu